Affordable Housing Report Card

Affordable housing continues to be a pressing issue on the Island, and the past few weeks have seen developments on more than one front.

Bradley Square

It is good to hear that leaders at the Island Affordable Housing Fund have decided not to tear down the Denniston House, which they as much as threatened to do after the Oak Bluffs Community Preservation Committee denied their request late last year for money that would go toward restoring the old building. With so much uncertainty about the financial affairs of the fund, and so little money to go around this year for a long list of worthwhile projects, the committee was right to deny the request. But leaders at the fund were also right to reconsider pursuing what surely would have been a collision course with the town and neighbors, many of whom are still unhappy with the size and scale of the Bradley redevelopment plan. With so many Island buildings of historic significance being lost to the bulldozer these days, the Denniston House should be preserved.

The house sometimes has mistakenly been called the site of the first African American church on the Vineyard; in fact its origins are as a mission. Owned by Susan C. Bradley, the mission was used around 1900 by the Rev. Oscar E. Denniston, an African American preacher, to minister to families of all colors. Some services were held in the house, but there was not enough space and a few years later Mr. Denniston bought a building on Circuit avenue which became the Bradley Memorial Baptist Church. Historical accounts of the Bradley Mission can be found in both the Vineyard Gazette and the Dukes County Intelligencer archives.

Meanwhile, the fund is trying to put the Bradley Square project business plan on solid ground. Last week fund leaders announced that they have formed a money-raising partnership with the Vineyard chapter of the NAACP; the goal is to raise $700,000 to retire the debt on Bradley before the start of the summer fund-raising season. That would be a good start, but even if that goal is accomplished, the Bradley dream remains far from reality. The price tag for the project exceeds five million dollars, and the plan depends on the sale of expensive new market-rate apartments in a flailing economy.

Chilmark Lottery

A policeman, a town accountant, a fisherman and a landscaper were among the Islanders who drew lots for the right to build their homes at Middle Line Road in Chilmark last week. It was a heart-warming scene, perhaps especially because of its Yankee simplicity, which is of course the Chilmark way. Affordable housing lotteries in other Island towns in recent months and years have begun to take on an unmistakable and at times uncomfortable tone of hubris, as the people who run the affordable housing groups increasingly occupy air space promoting themselves and their good deeds. There was none of that in Chilmark last week, partly because the Middle Line project is sponsored by the town. But the contrast was notable because it was a reminder of what this is all about: badly-needed assistance to make home ownership possible for ordinary working-class Islanders who are being slowly but surely squeezed out by overheated real estate values that show few signs of cooling down — even in the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

Transparency Still Lacking

Three months ago the two principal nonprofit housing groups on the Vineyard — the Island Affordable Housing Fund and Island Housing Trust — came under intense public scrutiny following the sudden revelation by the housing fund that it could no longer meet its obligation for the county rental assistance program. The public furor that followed has quieted, but fallout and questions linger. The burden of the rental assistance program has shifted to the towns for the foreseeable future, although there is no assurance that the towns can afford this. And many questions remain unanswered, including questions about conflicts among board members who may have profited while conducting business for the fund. Transparency was pledged, but in fact a full accounting was never provided by the fund and the trust of their financial affairs, which are so comingled that they are difficult to untangle. That accounting is overdue. Both organizations are using substantial amounts of public money from Community Preservation Act funds in every Island town, and the Island Housing Trust board includes appointed members from every Island town. This public-private partnership is not fully understood and deserves a clearer explanation. And if taxpayer money is being used and elected officials are serving on the board as representatives of their towns, trust board meetings should be open to the public and minutes of meetings publicly available. More open discussion is needed about the workings of these groups and whether they are structured as efficiently as possible to carry out their vital missions.